Starlight Star Bright
by The Wandering Muse
Summary: AU set during "The Sun Also Rises." "Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our loved ones pours through and shine down upon us to let us know they are happy." - Eskimo Proverb. Part of the Head Over Heels collection. Check out my profile for new updates!


**AN: This is a one-shot challenge response to FFN Writers Unite FB group. Prompt: stars**

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It was a full moon and three blazing circles separated three different supernatural species that Klaus needed for his ritual. Elena watched in fear as the blonde werewolf's heart was brutally ripped from her. Then she watched with trepidation as her aunt Jenna gets staked after attempting to drain the witch. Elena cried heavily until she felt so numb that she sank down to the ground, spent and drained physically and emotionally. Jenna was dead. She saw it herself, the body slowly hardening and the warmth replaced with coldness.

She raised her head at the night sky as if to make a silent plea and remembered an old childhood memory back when her parents were still alive, where vampires and werewolves were only a myth and didn't exist in her life. She was happy back then. She had a happy family, parents who loved her, and a younger cheeky brother to love, plays, and care for. She remembered that one time when she couldn't sleep and her mother, Miranda Gilbert, would point to the stars glittering through her window.

_Star Light Star Bright,_

_The first star I see tonight,_

_I wish I may, I wish I might,_

_Have the wish I wish tonight._

Elena closed her eyes as she heard Klaus's footsteps grow louder and steadily, and then she wished for the last and final time. "It's time," she hears him say. If looks could kill, he'd be dead right now. She calmly stood and ignored his mocking gentlemanly gesture and walked towards the altar. She passed by Aunt Jenna's cold unmoving body and thought to herself, "I'll see you soon, Jenna." She hears the words of thanks slipping out of the monster's lips and told him firmly to go to hell.

Fingers were pressed onto her jugular and then the sharp piercing of fangs sank into her throat. Elena felt light-headed and the dizzying sensation sets in. She closes her eyes, not wanting to see the unfairness of her reality, to know that she was only kept alive for the ritual, to be used as a tool to release a five-hundred year-old curse. And because of her, people had to risk their own lives to save her. The guilt that pours into her soul and then settles in has now faded for she will never be a burden to anyone anymore. She would be free from the heartache, the constant numbness, and all the suffering she had to deal with. Elena Gilbert is no more and the doppelganger succumbed to darkness.

Imagine the shock when Elena wakes up suddenly from the realm of darkness to the land of living. The first faces she hoped to see were her parents and Aunt Jenna but instead she saw Damon, followed by her brother Jeremy, and Alaric lingering at the doorway. She's alive and she's not a vampire. She should be happy but she's not. She tells Damon she is fine and he sighs with relief. Is it wrong to feel selfish for once? She feels guilty and hates herself for it. Because of this heavy guilt burdening down on her shoulders once again that Elena feels is being forced onto her, she over-compensates for everything and hopes everything will be fine.

One night, Elena sits on top of the hill and looks at the stars winking prettily down. She doesn't know who she is anymore. The girl Elena once was died the very night Klaus drained her. She's not the same person as before. For one, she stopped hating Katherine because Elena has come to an understanding with her doppelganger. They shared something so intimate that no one could possibly understand and it wasn't just based on their identical similarities but their histories lie so intertwined and complicated that they shared this connection. Maybe dying changed her perceptive of Katherine that when she put her arms around Elena and hugged her, Elena didn't flinched at the action. She welcomed the gesture, felt the warmth, and feels safe and guilt-free.

Life carries on and Elena will take one step at a time and maybe, just maybe the burden she carries could be shared between the both of them. One day, she will be free from the pain, suffering, and the unfairness of it all. Perhaps what she sees up in the sky are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our loved ones pours through and shine down upon us to let us know they are happy.

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**AN: Hope you enjoyed reading and see y'all next week! Don't forget to drop a review. Adios!**


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